Friday, December 14, 2012

When I walk down the streets in my city, I cannot hide my bewilderment when I see any kind of stuff you might imagine thrown on the ground. And when I say "any kind" I really mean anything. It's not just cigarettes —I have been a smoker, it's not easy to find a place to throw the stub— or a chewing gum wrapper, not the bus ticket and not even an ATM receipt.

Don't think I am too moaner, I finally got used to slalom across rubbish and I am a master at anger management. But I wonder what would you think if you happen to discover that someone "forgot" a dirty diaper in the full city center, a juice tetra-brik or even a full dog poop plastic bag forgotten on the pavement (I appreciate the dog owner to fill the bag, I only miss a last effort, come on). And what if you see people throwing rubbish straight from the window in the middle of the street? Isn't it disgusting?

This story related by an acquaintance of mine triggered this post. He was walking on the pavement and two ladies (presumably a mother with her daughter) were walking in front of him. At a certain point, the woman lost a sheet of paper, so what would the man reasonably think? Possibly that she did not realize it had slipped out of her bag. So once he collected it from the soil, he went straight to the woman.

—Sorry, I guess this is yours, you just have lost it— he said, gently offering her the paper.

—Oh, no. I don't need it, I have thrown it away, thanks anyway— she answered sarcastic.

—I see, so do you want me to throw it for you to the nearest trash-bin?— he replied.

—Well, it really doesn't matter. At least we'll keep street sweepers busy doing something— she finally answered insolent and proud of her attitude before her young daughter.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Whenever you speak in public, never forget to start with a great introduction to capture your audience from the very beginning. But also, never forget to close your speech in an unforgettable manner. Your conclusions must awake people inner feelings, you must inspire them and provide them with a practical way to introduce your lesson into their own life.

If you don't transmit values and touch people's heart, your preparation and work would seem boring and useless to them. Your conclusion must also deliver the sense that your speech is over, not just by saying "Thanks so much for your attention".

If you deliver the right value, your audience will thank you. So I want to propose you three excerpts taken from the following speeches. They have been greatly useful to me.

"Every problem you face is an opportunity for a creative solution. We each hold the key key to our innovation engine and have creativity waiting to be unleashed. It is up to you to turn the key."
—Tina Seelig video

"Our creativity comes from without, not from within. We are not self-made. We are dependent on one another; and admitting this to ourselves, isn't an embrace of mediocrity and derivativeness, it's a liberation from our misconceptions, and it's an incentive to not expect so much from ourselves and to simply begin."
—Kirby Ferguson video

"There is a mismatch between what science knows and what business does. And here is what science knows. One. Those motivators we think are natural part of the business do work, but only in a surprisingly narrow band of circumstances. Two. Those if-then rewards destroy creativity. Three. The secret to high performance isn't rewards and punishments but that unseen intrinsic drive. The drive to do things for their own sake. The drive to do things cause they matter. And here's the best part. We already know this. The science confirms what we know in our hearts. So if we repair this mismatch between what science knows and what business does, if we bring our motivation, notions of motivations into the 21st century, if we get past this lazy, dangerous idealogy of carrots and sticks, we can strengthen our businesses, and maybe, maybe, maybe, we can change the world."
—Dan Pink video

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

If you think that innovating in your company is a hard stuff, welcome! We are a bunch of people convinced that you have to pass through difficult, or better, impossible challenges to see an idea reach the production stage and possibly provide benefits.

I heard that one idea out of a hundred good ones reach maturity stage and turns into reality, somehow. According to my experience, this is true. But it does not represent a problem, really. Start brainstorming as soon as possible, you'll need plenty of smart ideas. The winning idea is like the Highlander, there can be only one.